Health and wellbeing

"I thought you knew that – the supermarket, of course..."

It's easy to forget that long before our food reaches the supermarket, people have been out sowing seeds, nurturing crops, raising wildlife and producing everything we eat. In our busy lives, it is very easy to lose touch with the origins of our food.

People have been growing their own food for thousands of years, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have the space or tools to do so. Through the 'Inspired to Grow' initiative, Countryways’ mission is to inspire young people to be curious about where food comes from; understand the importance of soil, nature and biodiversity for food growing and to feel empowered to grow a diverse array of heritage and colourful fruit and vegetable plants.

Aimed at young people aged 1318, the series of six workshops will take learners on a journey that includes growing a range of different heritage fruit and vegetables, including the ingredients for pizza and soup; harvesting from food waste, container growing and cultivating a weird and wonderful range of edible fungi from lion's mane to pink oyster.

In addition they will be testing soil types, learning about compost and considering environmental factors around food production.

“We’re hoping to inspire other young people to think more about what they’re eating, and for all of us to become more involved with the whole process of getting our food from the farm to the table, something I’m really passionate about” says Tyler Connolly, one of the key driving forces behind Inspired to Grow. Countryways, a care farm halfway along the main road between Wendover and Great Missenden, has a fabulous repurposed polytunnel and a wellstocked orchard which it is looking to cultivate further through this project.

"We're really excited to have secured funding from Heart of Bucks to enable us to launch this project. Based at Road Farm, our unique setting provides the perfect environment to demonstrate food production with on-farm examples of food and livestock production as well as hands-on vegetable growing through the Inspired to Grow project," says Project Manager Emily Reddy, "We want to get young people positively inspired in growing, cooking, sharing and learning about food and at the same time raising awareness of food waste and the environment, the importance of diversity in our diets while having fun engaging with nature, outdoors. All that will, we hope, be good for our own health and our planet's."

Primarily the project is aimed at supporting youngsters in families from the local area who are facing challenging times for one reason or another; whether it's mental health struggles, financial hardship, or loneliness and inclusion.

Participants can book onto either one or two of the sessions, or sign up to all 6, which are running free of charge on the second Thursday of the month from August to March (excluding January).

The first session, ‘Growing Pizza Perfection’ is on Thursday 10 August. The full itinerary can be found at www.roadfarmcountryways. com Tel 01494 862413. Email office. rfcountryways@gmail.com

All photographs © Countryways CIC